P 38`s love or hate!

Greetings from a newby. On my ninth Rover and did I ever find an odd one! A 2.5 D with cloth seats,coils springs,manual BMW X5 box, all standard. The mileage is galactic(220k) but the previous owner(Presidential Escort) looked after it,since then it has had all the usual maladies, and was about to be chopped but then.What with? Looked hard,the only thing that came close was a manual 4.2TD Land-cruiser but it is only sold in Aussie, so no. The only manual 322`s I have ever heard of are the replacement vehicles for mine and not yet for sale, so now what?(They had TDV8 Sports for three months and sold the lot, ho-hum) Took the decision to re-con mine,transfer box,lift pump, injection pump,clutch et al. Success but after all that my irregular cut out problem(from 2006) went only to be replaced with the dreaded hot start problem. Somebody who sells a "fix" seemed most reluctant to discuss the problem, PMT(male) possibly,so its onto the forum, and oh boy am I ever in good company! It takes some time to find but this forum is a gold-mine, you just have to do a lot of digging, fair enough! My only problem left is a climate control that tends to spit ice cubes or melt me, do I really have to strip out the entire centre console to get at the sensor????????? Sorry to waffle but credit is due to the members and I for one would be in a Toyota if it was`nt for you guys, thanks.

I might add that mine gets used properly, its 14k`s in low ratio(chains in winter) to my house,I get through a diesel banger every year in a false tree-hugging effort to be environmental. Its galling that the postman in a 207 diesel van with LSD gets through every day of the year, complete with Gaulloise on lip.

Welcome Old Traveller, I take it you live in France?

If so, maybe your general location entered in your profile might help......please

profile being updated as I write. No, I live in the New Forrest but as I work at sea I tend to spend as much time as possible up a mountain, in the Pyrenees. Off road there means it, tore my transfer box off in`07 in deep snow and loads of grip,my fault thinking momentum would win, a P38 diesel in low with chains and proper diffs will climb incredible angles, if you leave the right pedal alone, I have a stepper that raises the idle to 850, and up you go! I tend to find reverse is the best way up steep grass but otherwise it sorts itself out and leaves me to steer, if the diff allows me to!